| Freiburg beat Rot Weiss Essen 2-0 (A) on 12 Sep 1981 |
| Rot Weiss Essen beat Wormatia Worms 2-0 (H) on 15 Aug 1981 |
| Wormatia Worms beat Hessen Kassel 1-0 (H) on 8 Aug 1981 |
| Hessen Kassel beat Schalke 1-0 (H) on 12 Sep 1981 |
| Schalke beat 1860 München 3-1 (H) on 1 Aug 1981 |
| 1860 München beat SG Union Solingen 2-1 (A) on 8 Aug 1981 |
| SG Union Solingen beat Freiburger 5-2 (H) on 25 Aug 1981 |
| Freiburger beat VfL Osnabrück 2-0 (H) on 22 Aug 1981 |
| VfL Osnabrück beat Waldhof Mannheim 1-0 (A) on 5 Sep 1981 |
| Waldhof Mannheim beat Kickers Offenbach 3-1 (H) on 22 Aug 1981 |
| Kickers Offenbach beat Alemannia Aachen 1-0 (H) on 15 Aug 1981 |
| Alemannia Aachen beat Wattenscheid 3-0 (H) on 8 Aug 1981 |
| Wattenscheid beat Hannover 3-1 (H) on 25 Aug 1981 |
| Hannover beat Uerdingen 1-0 (H) on 22 Aug 1981 |
| Uerdingen beat SpVgg Bayreuth 3-2 (H) on 15 Aug 1981 |
| SpVgg Bayreuth beat Stuttgarter Kickers 3-1 (H) on 8 Aug 1981 |
| Stuttgarter Kickers beat SpVgg Fürth 3-1 (H) on 25 Aug 1981 |
| SpVgg Fürth beat Hertha Berlin 2-0 (H) on 1 Aug 1981 |
| Hertha Berlin beat Fortuna Köln 4-0 (H) on 8 Aug 1981 |
| Fortuna Köln beat Freiburg 3-1 (H) on 22 Aug 1981 |
HWC: Thick arrows show the earliest chain of wins that passes through every team and returns to its start.